A Service of Worship for
|
Worship notes are also included at the bottom of this page.
With this link you can make donation to Covenant through PayPal or a credit card.
|
|
Prelude
“Fugue in Eb Major” by J. S. Bach, Patrick Parker, organ. Call to Worship Hymn "This Easter Celebration," Joyce Courtois, alto Hymn Lyrics:
This Easter celebration is not like ones we've known. We pray in isolation, we sing the hymns alone. We're distant from our neighbors — from worship leaders, too. No flowers grace the chancel to set a festive mood. No gathered choirs are singing; no banners lead the way. O God of love and promise, where's joy this Easter Day? With sanctuaries empty, may homes become the place we ponder resurrection and celebrate your grace. Our joy won't come from worship that's in a crowded room but from the news of women who saw the empty tomb. Our joy comes from disciples who ran with haste to see -- who heard that Christ is risen, and then, by grace, believed. In all the grief and suffering, may we remember well: Christ suffered crucifixion and faced the powers of hell. Each Easter bears the promise: Christ rose that glorious day! Now nothing in creation can keep your love away. We thank you that on Easter, your church is blessed to be a scattered, faithful body that's doing ministry. In homes and in the places of help and healing, too, we live the Easter message by gladly serving you. Opening Sentences God of Love, May I not forget I have a heart - to love a broken world. May I not forget I have a voice - to speak out for the poor. May I not forget I have hands - to reach out to other people. May I not forget I have feet - to go where I am needed. Let me never forget You will be with me Always. Scripture Lesson: John 20:1-18 Time for Children Flowering Cross* (Click on the image to see a larger version, you can download a copy at the bottom of this page.) Call to Confession Unison Confession
If you are looking for a blessing, do not linger here. Here is only emptiness, a hollow, a husk Where a blessing used to be. This blessing was not content in its confinement. It could not abide its isolation, the unrelenting silence, the pressing stench of death. So if it is a blessing you seek, open your own mouth. Fill your lungs with the air this new morning brings and then release it with a cry. Hear how the blessing breaks forth in your own voice, how your own lips form every word you never dreamed to say. Music "Now the Green Blade Rises," John M.C. Crum, arranged by Ken Heitshusen. The Covenant Singers and organist Patrick Parker. |
Proclamation
“When you go out and see the empty streets, the empty stadiums, the empty train platforms, don’t say to yourself, “My God, it looks like the end of the world.” What you’re seeing is love in action. What you’re seeing, in that negative space, is how much we do care for each other, for our grandparents, for our immuno-compromised brothers and sisters, for people we will never meet. People will lose jobs over this. Some will lose businesses. And some will lose their lives. All the more reason to take a moment, when you’re out on your walk, on your way to the store, or just watching the news, to look into the emptiness and marvel at all that love. Let it fill you and sustain you. It isn’t the end of the world. It’s the most remarkable act of global solidarity we may ever witness. It is the reason the world will go on.” Bill Gates Prayer Our prayer this morning will conclude with the Lord’s prayer. You are welcome to join me with any version of this prayer you might know. If you do not know this prayer but would like to participate, you can find a version of this prayer below and in Matthew 6:9-13 and in Luke 11:2-4. Would you pray with me: Holy one, we are grateful that Easter comes; that it comes into our despair, into our delight, into our day to day. We are grateful that Easter comes whether we are ready or not. With so much loss and fear, with our need to stay away from others, with a pandemic swirling around us, we pray for Easter peace this day and always. Surround us, God, with your peace. Come into our houses, find us wherever we are, come and surprise us anew with your loving presence. Open us this resurrection morning to the tasks that are ours for building your realm right here, right now; your realm of distributive justice, your realm of peace, your realm of welcome. Open us to the ways we embody your Easter peace: embody it by staying home, by working in the hospital and the veterinary clinic, in the grocery store and in the home, embody it by caring for our children in new ways, embody it by seeking care for all. We pray this day for our world; for peace on earth, good will to all: we pray, we work, we love. We pray for all who are ill, we pray for all who are caring for us by making deliveries, working in healthcare, doing what must be done. We pray for all who are at even greater risk. We pray for all those who have lost jobs. We pray for all those who have faced violence and descrimination. We pray for our world. In this silence we pray for each corner of our world. We pray this day our gratitude for Easter’s promise of holy peace: peace available in every time and every place. We pray this day our hope, we pray our joy that Easter comes - that it comes again and again calling us to use our voices, our lives for love, for compassion, for peace. Guide us as we pray as Jesus taught us: Our Parent, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven: Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil, For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.
Invitation Prayer of Dedication Living God, astound us once more with signs of your presence. In the withered corners of our love, amaze us with small, swelling buds. In the dead center of our despair, astonish us with tender shoots of hope. Across the barren fields of betrayal, let our bewildered eyes open to the greeting of forgiveness. Into the frozen certainties of our endings, breathe warmth, that faith again may flower and exude the honey-damp fragrance of life. All praise and thanks to you, surprising God. Amen. Affirmation of Faith If we say we believe in the resurrection it only has meaning if we are people who believe in the possibility of transformed lives, transformed attitudes, and transformed societies. The action is the proof of the belief. I can say I believe...because I see resurrections now, see stones rolled away and new possibilities rising from old attitudes Music "He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands," by Margaret Bond. Dana Guidroz, soprano. Benediction Postlude “Christ Lay in Death’s Bonds,” by J. S. Bach. Patrick Parker, organ. |
Worship Notes
The worship leader is Beverly Rodgers.
The prelude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.
The Call to Worship is an excerpt from e.e. cumming’s poem, “I thank You God for most this amazing day.”
"This Easter Celebration" is by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, and is sung by Joyce Courtois, alto.
The Opening Sentences are from “Passion Sunday” by Beth Richardson, reprinted in Imaging the Word, Volume I, edited by Kenneth T. Lawrence.
The Unison Confession is by Jan Richardson.
“Now the Green Blade Rises” is sung by Covenant singers.
The Prayer of Dedication is “Signs of Life” from The Well is Deep: Prayers to Draw Up Living Water by Virginia Rickerman.
The Affirmation of Faith is adapted from Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity by Richard Holloway.
"He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands" is sung by Dana Guidroz, soprano.
The postlude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.
*The flowering cross is found in Christian art as early as the sixth century and is based on a legend that says that the cross itself burst into bloom at the moment that Jesus died. The legend of the True Cross describes how the wood of the cross came from a tree that sprang from a seed taken from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. A modern expression of this idea may be found in the custom of flowering the cross. On Easter morning, flowers are used to decorate a cross.
The worship leader is Beverly Rodgers.
The prelude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.
The Call to Worship is an excerpt from e.e. cumming’s poem, “I thank You God for most this amazing day.”
"This Easter Celebration" is by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, and is sung by Joyce Courtois, alto.
The Opening Sentences are from “Passion Sunday” by Beth Richardson, reprinted in Imaging the Word, Volume I, edited by Kenneth T. Lawrence.
The Unison Confession is by Jan Richardson.
“Now the Green Blade Rises” is sung by Covenant singers.
The Prayer of Dedication is “Signs of Life” from The Well is Deep: Prayers to Draw Up Living Water by Virginia Rickerman.
The Affirmation of Faith is adapted from Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity by Richard Holloway.
"He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands" is sung by Dana Guidroz, soprano.
The postlude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.
*The flowering cross is found in Christian art as early as the sixth century and is based on a legend that says that the cross itself burst into bloom at the moment that Jesus died. The legend of the True Cross describes how the wood of the cross came from a tree that sprang from a seed taken from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. A modern expression of this idea may be found in the custom of flowering the cross. On Easter morning, flowers are used to decorate a cross.
Copyright (c) 2020, Covenant Church
|
| ||||
